In general, it is known that hears produce active oxygen when being exposed to ultraviolet rays and are damaged by the active oxygen and thus the damage causes to remove hair cuticles. Also, it is know that platinum provides antioxidant effect. Thus, in the past, there have been proposed various types of platinum microparticles generators which emit platinum microparticles produced by an electric discharge and protect hairs from damage caused by the active oxygen. One such example is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-23063 published on Feb. 7, 2008. This platinum microparticles generator comprises a linear first electrode, a board-shaped second electrode and an applying means for applying a voltage between the first and second electrodes. The first electrode contains at least platinum. The second electrode comprises an outlet opening, which is a circular through-hole, located so as to face one end of the first electrode. Then, a part of the platinum contained in the first electrode is converted to microparticles by the electric discharge produced between the first and second electrodes, and the microparticles are emitted outward through the outlet opening.
By the way, the platinum microparticles generator generates ozone with the electric discharge inevitably. The higher the ozone density becomes, the more the ozone becomes harmful to a human body. Therefore, it is hoped that generation of the ozone is restrained. In contrast, there is an idea that a voltage applied by the applying means is reduced and a current value of the electric discharge is held down and thereby generation of the ozone is restrained. However, the above-mentioned platinum microparticles generator has a problem not to be able to emit a sufficient amount of platinum microparticles, if the current value is held down.